Study on the Sweeping Effectiveness of Oil Palm Broom form for Sustainable Domestic Applications

Abstract

Oil palm broom as a veritable household equipment is fast going into obsolescence partly due to some technical default in their use form and partly due to the crave for some unsustainable perceived alternatives. This study investigates the domestic applications suitability of natural oil palm broom and undertakes an empirical optimisation of the sweeping effectiveness. A field survey was carried out both in urban and rural settings to ascertain the current use of palm broom compared to other synthetic and non-biodegradable equipment acting as challengers. An optimisation process was done in tying of the broom strands. The broom strand lengths and spread angles used to optimize sweeping effectiveness were, 0.2 m, 0.4 m, 0.6 m, 0.8 m and 1.0 m lengths and 10°, 25°, 50°, 75° and 90° spread angles respectively. The results show that 75° strands spread angle and 0.8 m broom length give the best sweeping effectiveness. The determined form herein is easy to use. The oil palm sweeping broom is a natural eco-friendly, cheap and sustainable indispensable cleaning tool for most households and communities due to its unique features. An efficient design of the form configuration of the oil palm sweeping broom will improve on swept area output and also lessen the arduous effects of sweeping. There is need, therefore, to encourage the science and art of its production, especially in rural areas where it has great potential economic value to enhance the standard of living of the producers.